Psychological Climate for Diversity: Antecedents and Outcomes

Abstract

Although some research has examined climate for diversity in organizations and its outcomes, little attention has been devoted to the antecedents of individuals' climate for diversity perceptions (psychological climate) or to a broader nomological network. The extent to which individuals have experience with diversity and receive information regarding diversity in an organization from various media were purported to relate to their diversity related climate perceptions, which in turn were proposed to relate to their racial understanding, belonging, ethnic identity, and performance. Further, individuals' race was believed to moderate the antecedent-climate-outcomes relationships. Hypotheses were tested using two samples, 871 newcomers and 688 incumbents, enabling examination of potential differences in relationships between the two. Overall, the proposed model was supported. Psychological climate for diversity partially mediated the exposure to diversity-outcomes relationship, and fully mediated the information regarding diversity-outcomes relationship. However, contrary to expectations, moderation of the antecedent-climate-outcomes relationships by race was weak, and these relationships were largely similar in the two samples.